Grain-door for cars.



'No. 135L438.

Patented June I2, 1900. E. A. HILL.

GRAIN DOOR FOR MRS.

(Application filed Aug; 19,1898.)

2 Sheets-sheet (No Model.)

Patented Junk: I2, I900. E. A. HILL.

GRMN DOOR FOR CARS.

(Application filed Aug. 19, 1898.)

2 sheets sheet 2.

'(No Model.)

NITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDIVARD A. HILL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE CHICAGO GRAIN DOOR COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

GRAIN-DOOR FOR CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 651 ,438, dated June 12, 1900. Application filed August 19, 1898. Serial No. 688,956- .(No model.)

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Doors for Cars, of which the following is a specification. I

This invention relates to improvements in grain-doors for cars of the class exemplified by Letters Patent No. 479,070, granted 1ne July 19, 1892, but has more particular reference to the swivel connection betweenthe door and the door-posts, whereby freedom of action in raising and lowering the door is secured without sacrifice of strength or space and in such manner that a protected guiderod may be employed without objectionable slack between the moving parts,which would prove detrimental in their practical use.

The primary object of my invention is the attainment of the above-mentioned desirable features by the employment of a swivel con motion of such character that the dooris held close and snug to the door-posts by its own weight, while at the same time a fully-protected guide-rod may beemployed without the necessity for an offset therein near the lower end thereof, which would prove practically as fatal to the rod as if it were exposed to its full length. These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained by the devices illustrated in the acompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section of the middle portion of a car, showing the grain-door in its lowered position. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a detailed horizontal section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows. Fig. 4 is a detailed perspective view showing the upper corner of the door and the swivel connection; and Figs. 5 and 6 are detailed perspective and sectional views, respectively, of the modified forms of the swivel connection;

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawings.

In this class of invention a prime necessity is that the door shall fit snugly and as close as possible against the dooreposts when down modities, such as furniture and other bulky 6o freight; but the connection between the door and car should be such that the guide-rods may be so located that practically throughout their length and particularly at the lower end thereof they are substantially flush with the inner face of the car-door posts and-in such position as to be fully protected from damage by contact with lumber and other bulky freight when the latter is loaded into or discharged from a car.

The essentially-novel feature of my invention is the swivel connection between the door and the car, which I will describe in detail farther on.

The general features of construction found in the drawings are old and Well known in the art-such as the main door A, the auxiliary door B, and the guidc-10ds O at each side of the door, having the offsets or ledges D formed therein near their upper ends to receive the swivel when the door is swung out to a substantially-horizon tal position at the top of the car, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2, in which position the outer edge of the door is supported by the swivel connection, while the inner edge is supported by a suitable hook E, secured to the roof of the car.

My invention is adapted for use in connection with guide-rods set in grooves F, formed in the face of the door-posts G, as illustrated at the left side of the door in Fig. 1 and in Figs. 2, 3, and 6, the rod being thus flush with the face of the door-posts, or, as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, my invention is equally adapted for use in connection with guide-rods setat one side of the door-posts, but in a line back of the face thereof, so thatthe rods are substantially fi ush with the inner face of the doorposts. In both of, these arrangements of the guide rods they are protected by the doorposts against possible damage from lumber or other bulky freight while the latter is being loaded into or removed from the car.

The swivel connect-ion between the door and car, asillustratedin Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, is the same and consists ofa shackle having separate loops or eyes a and 1) formed in axes substantially at right angles to each other, the former being designed to embrace the guide rods 0 and the latter being adapted to receive a pivot-pin c, rigidly secured to the corner of the main door, both the loops (band I) being preferably somewhat larger than the rods or pivots which pass through them in order to insure perfect freedom of action in the raising of the door.

In order to avoid bending or forming an offset in the lower end of the guide-rods to project beyond the face of the doorposts, so as to form a socket for the loop I) when the door is in its lowermost position, and at the same time insure not only the vertical hanging of the door when done, but also that it shall snugly fit against the door-posts, but in a position to be easily raised vertically, I have the end of the loop aangularly disposed, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4, so that this angular extension of the shackle lies in a substantially-horizontal plane, while the lower loop I) of said shackle lies in a substantially-vertical plane. It will be readily seen that when the angular extension on the shackle reaches the lower end of the guide-rod the upper edge of the door will be forcibly drawn in by its own weight and caused to hug closely against the door-posts, and thus edectually close the door-openingagainst the passage of anygrain. At the same time the size of the loops (1 and b is such that the door can be readily lifted in a vertical direction and need not be lifted with any great precision as to its position, because it can be canted considerably and yet lifted with perfect ease and without any danger of the shackle binding upon the guiderods.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a modification of the shackle in which there is but one loop with two branches corresponding to the branches a and b, the branch at being angularly disposed at its end for the same purpose as just described with regard to the preferred construction illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4:, inclusive. In this form of swivel connection the shackle is provided with a pivot-bar (1, formed as a part of the loop, which bar is engaged by a strap e, secured to the door and having an eye for the reception of the said bar. The form of shackle illustrated in Fig. 5 is particularly designed for use in connection with a guide-rod set at one side of the door-posts; but obviously the same form of shackle could be employed in connection with a guide-rod set in a groove in the door-posts.

In Fig. 6 I have illustrated still another modification of the swivel connection, which is shown as designed foruse in connection with a guide-rod located in a groove in the door-posts, the shackle in this case consisting of a single arm bent to form loops practically the same as those illustrated in Fig. 5, excepting that the lowerloop Z) is narrower, and the pivoting-bar d projects to one side of the loop I) and is pivoted in a suitable socket piece or bracket secured to the door. In this form of shackle also there is the same angubracing the guide-rods, the end of said loop being angularly disposed so as to lie in a substantially-horizontal plane while the shackle extends obliquely downward from said angu lar end to the door, and the length of the loop being sufficient to allow great freedom of movement on the guide-rods while the combined distances from the pivot connection of the loop with the door to the rod and to the bottom of the door are so proportioned to the distances from the bottom of the guide-rod to the carfloor that the door will be held tightly at the top against the door-posts when the door is lowered, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination with a door, a guiderod at each side of the door-opening, substantially flush with the door-posts, of a pivot at or near each upper corner of the door and a shackle connecting each pivot and rod having enlarged loops at right angles to each other through which the pivot and rod respectively pass, the end of the loop embracing the rod being angularly disposed so as to lie in a substantially-horizontal plane While the shackle extends obliquely downward from said angular end to the door, and the length of the loop being sufficient to allow great freedom of movement on the guide-rods while the combined distances from the pivot connection of the loop with the door to the rod and to the bottom of the deer are so proportioned to the distances from the bottom of the guiderod to the car-floor that the door will be held tightly at the top against the door-posts when the door is lowered, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination with a door and inset guide-rods attached to the carat each side of the door-opening, of shackles pivotally connected with the door and provided with laterally-extending branches constituting elongated loops receiving said guide-rods, the ends of said branches being angularly disposed so as to lie in a substantially-horizontal plane while the shackle extends obliquely downward from said angular end to the door, door will be held tightly at the top against and the length of the loop being sufficient to the door-posts when the door is lowered, sub- I0 allow great freedom of movement on the guidestantially as and for the purpose described.

rods While the combined distances from the pivot connection of the loop with the door to EDWARD HILL the rod and to the bottom of the door are so Witnesses:

proportioned to the distances from the bot- O. L. WOOD,

tom of the guide-rod to the car-floor that the M. E.'SHIELDS. 

